Happy Kids, Inc: Whole Wheat Pretzels

I am always looking for new, fun snacks for my kids. It keeps it fun for them. But I always want them to healthful, whole grain snacks, too. I've seen a lot of pretzel recipes on Pinterest and similar sites. Most of them are fairly standard recipes. I wanted to find a way to make them healthier and higher in protein and fiber. So, meet my version for Whole Wheat Pretzels below! They turned out great and my kids devoured them.

Since whole wheat flour is easy to get, I listed that as the main type of flour to use in this recipe. But I have also made these with a mix of flours. I've done half whole wheat/half spelt. I've done whole wheat, barley, and oat flour. So, feel free to play around with whole grain flours. In lieu of eggs, I used coconut oil. But if you prefer, you can beat one egg and use that instead.

Whole Wheat Pretzels

1 packet (or 1 tbl.) active yeast

1 1/2 cup lukewarm water

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon evaporated cane sugar

1 tbl. apple cider vinegar

3 cups (+1 cup for kneading) whole wheat flour (you can also do a mix of flours; spelt, oat, and barley flours work great, too)

1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)

course sea salt or kosher salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper or wax paper.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk water and yeast together. Let sit for 1 minute. Add vinegar, sugar, and salt and whisk well. Add flour, one cup at a time and stir with a wooden spoon or spatula. You should need about 3 cups to get a good, slightly sticky dough. Reserve the final cup for kneading.
On a floured cutting board, knead dough for 5 minutes, adding flour as necessary. Pull off dough sections about the size of a tennis ball and roll out into a long "string". Fold into pretzel shapes on your cookie sheet. Once all pretzels have been formed, brush with the melted coconut oil and sprinkle with the coarse salt.
Bake for 10 minutes. Then, switch to broil and cook an additional 3 minutes. Watch them closely! They might cook quickly once on broil. You want your pretzels slightly browned and soft to the touch.
Serve with mustard on the side. Enjoy!